A local couple’s claim of bedbugs at a Belmont motel brought city officials to investigate. A code enforcement officer didn’t find any creepy crawlers. But the allegations showed city leaders there’s no one to ensure standards at some motels.

Lauren Baheri

A local couple’s claim of bedbugs at a Belmont motel brought city officials to investigate. A code enforcement officer didn’t find any creepy crawlers. But the allegations showed city leaders there’s no one to ensure standards at some motels.

When Belmont city officials got word of the bedbug claims, they looked to the Gaston County Health and Human Services Department to check in on it. They were perplexed to find county health workers couldn’t investigate. “They are not under our jurisdiction because they are an extended stay hotel,” Shannon Clubb, spokeswoman for Gaston County’s Health and Human Services said.

Because the place had more than four rooms dedicated to weekly rentals, the health inspectors viewed the motel much like an apartment. Health workers can offer education and advice to the owners but little else. In a daily hotel, health workers inspect the building annually, checking for pests of all sorts.

“We’d look on the mattress, the headboard, behind the headboard, any crevices around the base boards, that is where bedbugs are going to tend to be,” Clubb said. They’d also make a trip out for any complaints. If bedbugs were found, health workers would issue a deduction from their overall inspection score, much like a restaurant, Clubb said.

The owners are told how to resolve the issue that can sometimes take as long as 30 days to completely rid the building of bedbugs. If the problem persists without any attempt to correct it, they can be shut down, Clubb said. But with an extended stay, the county health agency doesn’t issue permits, so they can’t deduct any points.

The city of Belmont didn’t view the motel as under its jurisdiction either, said Chris Ray, Belmont’s code enforcement officer. “Our ordinance does not cover boarding houses, extended stay apartments, motels hotel, that kind of thing,” Ray said. “We only deal with single family homes, duplexes, and the like.”

And almost all of the issues they investigate are structural. The city code enforcers don’t usually deal with pests. However, since county health workers weren’t looking into the claims, Ray did. “We felt like as a city that since nobody was taking action that we needed to at least check it out,” Ray said.

When he went to the motel he spoke with the owner, who granted him access to all rooms. “She said, ‘I don’t have anything to hide at all,’” he said. Ray went to every room in the motel and didn’t see any bedbugs. The owner told Ray that after the couple filed complaints she inspected the room but couldn’t find anything.

Just to be safe, she told Ray, she hired a pest control company to come in and clean up all the rooms at the motel. The pest control company didn’t find anything either, Ray said. “They’ve taken precautionary measures,” Ray said. No penalties or fines will be issued to the motel, Ray said.

You can reach reporter Lauren Baheri at 704-869-1842 or Twitter.com/lbaheri.

What’s the deal with bedbugs?

The bugs: They’re parasites who live off the blood of humans and animals.

The infestations: In recent years the bloodsuckers have started a rapid spread in the United States, even though they’ve traditionally been a problem in the developing world.

The ‘ick’ factor: While bedbugs don’t carry disease, their bites are itchy and their presence often distressing, especially since the parasites tend to live in creases and folds of mattresses, couches and other places people sleep. Because the bugs are tiny and can live for months without a meal, they’re notoriously difficult to get rid of.

The stowaways: Those slim, flat bodies that make them good at hiding in beds and couches? They’re also good for crawling into luggage and folded clothing. That makes it easy for people to unknowingly transport bedbugs from place to place.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

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